Morning Line, Carter winner, has knee surgery

Morning Line, the Grade 1 Carter winner who finished last in the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap at Saratoga on Aug. 6, underwent surgery Wednesday to remove chips from both of his knees, according to a press release issued by Lane's End Farm.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Larry Bramlage at the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., who reported that Morning Line is expected to make a full recovery and return to racing.

Trained by Nick Zito, Morning Line has won 4 of 12 starts, including the seven-furlong Carter at Aqueduct in April and last year's Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby at 1 1/8 miles at Parx Racing. He also has four second-place finishes, including a head loss to Dakota Phone in last year's Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Churchill Downs and a runner-up finish to Giant Oak in this year's Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park.

Morning Line, a son of Tiznow, has earned $1,122,300.